Watari sighed as he drove down the same street for the third time that morning, he was sure he had missed a turn somewhere along the way.
Frustrated, he resolved to ask for directions, he drove around the corner and came across a young woman walking down the sidewalk and seized the opportunity.
"Excuse me miss, Watari called out stopping his car beside her.
"What can I do for you?" The dark haired woman asked politely.
"I was hoping perhaps you could point me in the direction of Riata Road, by any chance is it close?" The woman smiled.
"You're not far off at all, follow this road to the highway and there should be an exit for it just a bit down from here." Watari nodded.
"Thank you very much." He said and proceeded down the street, slowing down when the shouts of children reached his ears. Watari knew children were likely to run across the road before looking and made it a point to be more cautious when they were around. He hadn't gone far when the group appeared.
They stood in a tight circle shouting and laughing, Watari may not have thought anything of it if one of the children hadn't suddenly kicked whatever they were surrounding and the old man knew it wasn't one of their toys.
"Probably some poor stray, children can be so cruel." He said to himself and parked his car before making his way toward the group.
"Get away from here!" He shouted, he could not in good conscious leave the creature to their mercy, or lack there of. As expected, the children ran to avoid trouble and to Watari's horror, lying on the ground, he found a small boy. The child didn't cry out or attempt to move. His back was to the old man.
The boy couldn't have been more than three years old, he was very thin.
"Are you alright little one?" Watari asked gently, instantly the boy raised his head and tried to stand up.
"It's alright, I don't want to hurt you." His words didn't get through to child who rushed off as quickly as he could. Watari felt he couldn't leave until he knew the boy was safe. It took him a few minutes to find him again. The child was sitting under a large tree in a very neglected, over grown yard. Watari wondered if maybe the boy was lost and had used this place as shelter. Before he could do anything, a large man stepped out of the house angrily.
"You again, haven't you tortured me enough, each day I find you here after I specifically said I never want to see you again!" He screamed lifting the boy by his shirt collar into the air. The boy didn't react with fear, instead, he simply stared at the man through dark eyes. It was almost as if he was waiting for it to happen, he had accepted it.
"Put the boy down." Watari demanded. The man turned.
"You're on private property mister, I suggest you leave, this is little beast is mine, I'll do what I want with it."
"Maybe you didn't understand me, you're on my property, this thing here is also my property and no one tells me what to do with my things."
"He's a child not a thing. Put him down nicely." The large man gripped the boy tighter.
"Don't meddle in things you don't understand"
"It's you that needs to understand, that boy was alone and a group of children were-"
"Good. Whatever they did to him, he deserves it." Watari was outraged.
"You claim he's your child and yet you fail to protect him, do you realize I can have you arrested for children endangerment, abuse, neglect, the list must be a mile long."
"Be my guest mister, apparently you're not from around here." He dragged the boy inside and slammed the door, Watari took out his phone and dialed.
"You're right, I'm not from around here, but I have more connections to the proper authority than you can believe."